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Editorial: Wave good-bye to Internet if FCC rules go through

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Tom Wheeler, nominated May 1, 2013, by President Barack Obama to be chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, has served in the position since November. (Bloomberg News photo by Andrew Harrer)

These are just some of the virtual signs that the Federal Communications Commission would be erecting along the Internet if its newest plan becomes law.

The FCC will be voting next month on its latest rules of the road for Internet traffic. The proposal was heralded, at least in some circles, as having staked out some middle ground between those who want to see the Internet remain an open, free realm, and the crowd that supports a pay-to-play paradigm.

It is nothing of the sort.

The plan, at its core, is a capitulation. It would grant speedy passage to those who forked over the money while giving lip service to the notion of open and free access for all.

That concept, called net neutrality, treats all data on the information superhighway as equal. A bit is a bit, and a kilobit is a kilo bit. Whether the information comes from some little company you've never heard of or from Netflix.

It is this fundamentally democratic notion that has made the Internet what it is, whether one considers its successes or its annoyances. The same policies that allowed Facebook and Twitter to grow into behemoths also allows spammers and the most unscrupulous of scammers and schemers to thrive.

So be it. With the good comes the bad.

The FCC's plan would throw that all into the trash, allowing the Netflixes of the world to pay their way through the pipelines that make up the Internet. While proponents are quick to note that creating speedier lanes for some is not to erect stop signs for others, this is true in theory alone.

It would effectively do just that.

The Internet isn't going to remain open on its own. It's up to federal regulators, playing the dual role of highway engineer and traffic cop, to see that it isn't closed to all but those who can afford to pay the tolls.